Professional Contemporary Class with Aya Kobayashi

Join us  for another Wednesday morning professional class

When: Wednesday 18th and 25th March 9.15-10.30am
Where: Scottish Ballet’s Education Studio within Tramway, 25 Albert Dr, Glasgow G41 2PE
Cost: £6 (cash on the day)

Aya’s class offers questions and imageries that navigate you to a dynamic journey of play. Working together with both improvisation and set material the class will explore the sense of gravity and fullness, deepen the clarity of patterns and explore the choreographic senses.

Adam Sloan – Dance Artist

Adam was first employed by Indepen-dance as a dance apprentice in 2011 and in 2013 was delighted to become part of Indepen-dance 4, their inclusive performance ensemble. Adam loves to perform and since embarking on his dance career has appeared on stages across Scotland as well as at venues in Ghent, Paris, Mainz and in various towns throughout Northern and Southern Ireland. He has performed works by a range of choreographers including Laura Jones, Christine Devanney, Ramesh Meyyappan, Anna Newall and George Adams and in 2015  was excited to perform with Scottish Ballet in the premier of  Exalt by Marc Brew.

In 2016 Adam was awarded a lifetime Fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences, one of only five given in Britain to people with learning disabilities. The award was granted to help him develop as a choreographer. Since then he has been working with George Adams as his mentor to produce a new  piece of contemporary dance featuring three dancers from Indepen-dance. This new piece, now nearing completion, will be performed at Go Dance in Glasgow, in Spring  2018 and at the World Downs Syndrome Congress in Glasgow in summer 2018.

Class will be lead by Indy4 dancer Adam Sloan and supported by George Alexander Adams​. The class will focus on on dynamics, alignment, sequencing and improvisation. The session will include an appropriate warm up in order for the dancers to be adequately prepared for devising new vocabulary for a new work. This class is developed for professional dancers.

Emma Smith

Emma is currently a dance artist with inclusive dance company, Indepen-dance, with
whom she has worked across the UK, Ireland, Italy, and Germany. She has
performed in works by Mark Brew (Axis Dance Company), Laura Jones (StopGap
Dance Company), George Adams (La Petit Mort Theatre), and Anna Newell (Replay
Theatre Company). She also works as a freelance dance artist, teacher, and choreographer, specialising in creative learning, contemporary dance, and inclusive practice. She works for many national dance organisations, including Dance Base,
Scottish Ballet, Dance House, and the MacRobert Arts Centre. In 2015 she was one
of three Scottish artists to be awarded a BBC Performing Arts Fellowship, which she undertook with YDance. Emma is currently studying for a Masters of Education at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Emma’s class uses imagery and improvisation to lead into technical set phrases which
explore a strong, articulate, physicality.

George Adams

George trained at Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance. He has worked extensively as a performer, choreographer and teacher for leading national companies including Yael Flexer and Nick Sandland- Dance and Digital Works, Nigel Charnock + Company, Motionhouse, Ludus Dance, National Dance Company of Wales and as co-director of La Petite Mort Theatre. George has worked as associate director for Indepen-dance 4 since 2016 where he has choreographed on the company, rehearsal directed, and most recently has been a choreographic mentor to dancer Adam Sloan.

George’s own work has been programmed at Edinburgh Fringe Festival, NT Ghent in Belgium, Cumbria Chamber of Commerce, Resolutions, Turn Festival and Light Up Lancaster.

George also has experience in facilitating Pilates and dance technique within education and has a Masters in Movement Psychotherapy.

George’s class draws on his diverse experience in movement and uses dynamic sequences to develop individual technique and the dancer’s own style. Influenced further by yoga practice and set to a score of upbeat music.

 Aya Kobayashi

Aya is an independent dance artist based in UK, recently moved to Glasgow. She has performed for companies such as Flexer & Sandiland, Rosemary Lee, Charlie Morrissey, Gecko Theatre, Saffy Setohy and Lila Dance. Aya has presented her work at various venue in the UK and abroad including The Place, Royal Festival Hall, Birmingham Hippodrome, The Lowry, Northern Ballet, Spain, Egypt and Mexico and Japan. She has been an associate artist for Anjali Dance Company for last 9 years where she gained range of teaching experiences and developed choreographic work with people with leaning disabilities. She enjoys working with inclusive and intergenerational groups and dedicates to develop the artistry within communities. She works with Tate and present audience participatory performances and lead education programs. Aya teaches technique and improvisation and works as a rehearsal director. Teaching credits includes Independent Dance, Greenwich Dance, Stopgap Dance Company, Dance Limerick, Proda Norway, Rambert School.